
Mando Saenz has made a career out of watching people, haunting places, and asking questions. His third album Studebaker combines the acoustic pensiveness of Saenz's 2005 debut Watertown and the full-bodied bravado of his 2008 follow-up Bucket. His tenor, which has always been arresting, has assumed a full, rich timbre that can still deliver lines delicately, but can also howl like a freight train, all in the service of Saenz's self-deprecating wit, careful observation, and empathetic ability to make heroes out of outcasts.